26 hours travelling.

Tel Aviv Travel Blog

Hello all,Well I just arrived at my hotel in Tel Aviv. I left my house in Madison yesterday at 11:30am, and it is now 26 hours later. It is now almost 10pm Israeli time, and I am TIRED!

I left from Madison at about 11:30am. I had a 4:50pm flight, and I figured a few hours to drive, about a half an hour to park and get shuttled to the airport. Everything worked out well, but when I had my boarding passes printed out Iberia was unable to print one out for my Barcelona-Tel Aviv flight on El Al.

After getting to Barcelona, I went directly to the El Al counter and was asked a series of questions by their security. Apparently, my motivations and reasons for visiting Israel brought suspicion upon me. I had decided to come here at the last minute. Airfares between here and the Caribbean were within about $125, and I figured it would be warm here, and I could do some diving as well. Plus as a history buff, this is the grand daddy of trips!

Well, the last second thing, and my reasoning really threw them off I guess. So my checked luggage was pulled from the plane, and I and my luggage were subjected to 90 minutes of searching in a back room. They were very professional, and I can certainly see the reason for the security that they have. I was paired with a El Al employee, who rushed me through security lines to get to the flight just in time to leave.

The rest of the flight was uneventful, and arrival in Tel Aviv went very smoothly. I picked up my rental car, which was adorned with Eldan Rental stickers in four different places. I thought it was strange, because in the states we hear stories of tourists that are targeted by thieves because they can identify thier rental cars. I had them rip the stickers off. I guess I am paranoid.

The drive into town in my Hyundai Getz four-door hatchback was uneventful, but my navigating abilities were impaired by a combination of darkness, a lack of a good Tel Aviv map in the states, and the removal of everything Israel from Google Maps a few weeks ago because some bombers tried to use it to target something.

At least the hotel has internet, A/C, and a good restaurant. The steak was expensive but good, and I hit the sack.